- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Meet the Aussie who built a Wall Street infrastructure giant
Stonepeak founder Mike Dorrell learnt the infrastructure game at Macquarie and Blackstone before striking out on his own. Now he’s readying for a new infrastructure boom.
Twenty minutes of terror inside Westfield Bondi Junction
Witnesses have recounted the terrifying period when Joel Cauchi murdered six people in a busy shopping centre in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
In six and a half years I witnessed a dark pivot in China
When I first landed in Shanghai on a freezing winter’s night in January 2018, China felt like a place bursting with optimism and opportunity.
The ‘frightening discussion’ Australia needs to have about China
Defence experts are urging the Albanese government to canvass how the civilian population and industry could be mobilised on a war footing.
- Analysis
- Crime
‘Violence is coming from the edge’: Sydney’s horror week
The local playing out of foreign conflicts and tensions is also behind a national mood of alarm following 50 hours of horror in Sydney.
Three missiles at dawn: How Israel’s raid unfolded
The retaliatory action appears to have been very limited in scope and calculated to avoid escalating the regional tensions into a wider war.
A year after Milkrun’s demise, the quick commerce founders are back
The collapse of the high-flying start-up 12 months ago this week marked the end of the easy-money free-for-all. These new ventures are everything it wasn’t.
An insightful look at the week’s biggest tech stories, deals and trends delivered free to your inbox every Tuesday.
weekend reads
- Analysis
- Lehrmann trial
What Bruce Lehrmann could do next
Bruce Lehrmann has 28 days to appeal, but he needs to find the lawyers and the money first.
‘At the end of the day, we’re Aussies’: Assyrians assess church attack
For Sydney’s tight-knit Assyrian community, Monday’s terrorist attack in a church was confronting and triggering for a long-persecuted people.
My strange journey into the doomsday bunkers of the super-rich
The first season of Amazon’s ‘Fallout’ has captured the reality of some of the places that I had actually visited in “meatspace”.
This former tennis champ is chasing unicorns and dancing pantless
Dylan Alcott has a dizzying list of achievements from 15 tennis Grand Slams to being Australian of the Year. Now, he’s chasing start-ups and performing with Jason Donovan.
Why India’s confidence is growing
Narendra Modi’s reign as prime minister is producing a less liberal but more assured nation that is predicated on the idea of Hindu supremacy.
smart investor
The happiest retirees have these things in common
Someone who retires at 67 and is lucky enough to live to 87 in good health has 7300 days to fill. Make them happy ones, advises The Golfing Counsellor.
- Opinion
- Inflation
Business bankruptcies are at a 25-year high and that’s very bad news
In total, 1131 businesses went bust in the month, which was the largest number since ASIC started collecting these statistics in 1999.
- Opinion
- Investing
The curse of market concentration is spreading
Concentration risk has tended to be predominantly confined to the Australian market but as investors diversify overseas, they face a similar problem in the United States.
- Opinion
- Super Q&A
How do I calculate my tax-free super pension limit?
The transfer balance cap has increased twice since its inception to reach $1.9 million. Calculating how to stay within it can be tricky.
- Opinion
- SMSFs
New superannuation tax may hit venture capital
SMSFs will shy away from investing in start-ups for fear of being slugged with big tax bills on unrealised gains.
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Companies
Australia’s fresh produce growers learn bigger is better
Giant pension funds from Canada, Singapore and US private equity are behind super producers who account for half the $9.1 billion fruit and vegetable market. Bigger is better, and Australia is mirroring a global trend.
Star Entertainment is eating itself alive
How far will the regulator push the company? How much damage have squabbling executives done? An inquiry into the Sydney casino operator is getting ugly.
Star rejects claims it misled regulator
A senior executive told the inquiry she knew up to 25,000 source of wealth checks were incomplete as contact details for the customers were unable to be found.
Bonza cuts flights amid trouble registering aircraft
The budget airline, backed by Miami’s 777 Partners, is cutting some routes to the tourism hub, where one of its Boeing 737 MAX-8 planes remains grounded.
Booming AI demand threatens electricity supply
Regulators are scrambling to factor the explosive growth of data centres into demand projections as one network warns of a 250 per cent surge in power needs.
- Updated
- Courts
Macquarie fined $10m after dodgy withdrawals
A Federal Court judge said certain systems implemented by the financial services provider had “little or no ability” to protect customers from fraud.
Hedge fund formerly advised by Glenn Stevens goes under
Perth-based hedge fund NWQ has gone belly up after being unable to hash out a deal with debt holders after its financial licence was suspended.
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Markets
Dow recovers as Iran plays down strike; techs plunge
Global stocks recovered from the shock of the strike on Iran but a plunge in the “magnificent seven” tech stocks weighed on the Nasdaq.
Next bitcoin halving is different for this one reason
The fourth bitcoin halving is imminent, but it’s already looking very different from previous cycles.
Commodity markets perplexed why gold keeps going up
The precious metal’s decoupling from the traditional drivers of prices has analysts divided on its outlook.
Private equity risks leaving ASX behind, RBA warns
The Australian assets of buyout funds have grown 75 per cent in four years, but the ASX 200 has shrunk by roughly $6 billion this year.
Sharemarket doesn’t need rate cuts for life support
Australia’s jobless rate rose less than expected as the labour force remains tight, reinforcing the case for the Reserve Bank to stay on hold.
Opinion
A traumatic week, and a need for calmer politics
Murder in Bondi Junction and terrorism in western Sydney have come to a country already demoralised by a cost-of-living crisis. Time for politicians and other opinion formers to put the hyperbole away.
Editorial
America’s Superman foreign policy flies again
The hard realism of Asian allies about America’s direction must jostle with the return of uncompromising American unilateralism.
International editor
Delay to environment reforms shows what WA wants, WA gets
The decision to delay reform of federal environmental laws underscores the stranglehold the resources states have on the next election.
Political editor
Women know the true power of Justice Lee’s finding
It wasn’t just about one rape in Canberra. It is a pattern of male behaviour lamented by all politicians but which continues just the same.
Columnist
Australia must pay the price for defence and deterrence
A generation of politicians who grew up with a post-Cold War peace dividend are now struggling to switch from welfare to warfare.
Editorial
Business bankruptcies are at a 25-year high and that’s very bad news
In total 1131 businesses went bust in the month, which was the largest number since ASIC started collecting these statistics in 1999, writes Christopher Joye.
Columnist
Politics
- Analysis
- Terror charges
Why so many younger men are so angry
Australia’s ‘crisis of male violence against women’ reflects a growing gender divide triggered by alienation and resentment, researchers say.
US expects to finalise AUKUS trade exemptions in next 120 days
The statement indicates a delay in the process, but the legislation requires the US president to revisit the issue in another 120 days.
Forced supermarket break-ups ‘a dopey idea’
Former Productivity Commission chairman Peter Harris questions legality of such an arrangement, citing the clause in the Constitution that saved The Castle’s Darryl Kerrigan.
Chalmers says ‘big’ investment in subsidy plan won’t push up inflation
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has defended the government’s green industry subsidies plan, joining other countries protecting itself from China’s race to the bottom.
Labor ‘determined’ to halve record post pandemic immigration
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said multiculturalism needs to be carefully nurtured.
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World
Huge blast at Iranian-backed military base in Iraq
Security sources said the blast was a result of an unknown airstrike, which happened around midnight Friday (Saturday AEST).
Tehran signals no retaliation against Israel after drones attack Iran
The limited scale of the attack and Iran’s muted response appeared to signal a successful effort by diplomats to avert all-out war.
Man sets self on fire outside Trump’s hush money trial
Police taped off the scene of the incident. Nearby, a pamphlet was visible that referred to “evil billionaires” and called on people to “expose this corruption”.
- Opinion
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israel’s strike exposes Iran’s fatal weakness
The strike is a profound humiliation for the ayatollahs who just days ago said they would deliver punishing retaliation for even the slightest Israeli strike.
Modi bids for historic third term in world’s biggest election
The prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata party targets an increased majority to tighten its grip over Indian politics and society.
Property
David Droga plans new home for Tamarama headland site
The owners and designer Luigi Rosselli aim to create a house on the landmark Sydney site that better reflects its location and the environment.
My strange journey into the doomsday bunkers of the super-rich
The first season of Amazon’s ‘Fallout’ has captured the reality of some of the places that I had actually visited in “meatspace”.
Singapore’s $192,000-a-month retreats are latest luxury for new mums
High-end post-birth care centres are booming, especially in Singapore where the super-rich from mainland China have been flocking.
Tenants race for top towers as B-grade buildings empty
The divide between prime buildings and secondary ones is most stark in Sydney. B-grade buildings will get left behind by tenants and lenders, experts say.
Hidden billions in Tokyo real estate lure activist hedge funds
There’s a $222 billion gap between how companies value their real estate on their books, versus what those same properties would fetch in the current market.
Wealth
- Opinion
- Investing
The curse of market concentration is spreading
Concentration risk has tended to be predominantly confined to the Australian market but as investors diversify overseas, they face a similar problem in the United States.
- Opinion
- SMSFs
New superannuation tax may hit venture capital
SMSFs will shy away from investing in start-ups for fear of being slugged with big tax bills on unrealised gains.
- Opinion
- Super Q&A
How do I calculate my tax-free super pension limit?
The transfer balance cap has increased twice since its inception to reach $1.9 million. Calculating how to stay within it can be tricky.
Technology
How Spotify beat the artist boycotts
Taylor Swift, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Thom Yorke have all pulled their music from the streaming giant. Eventually, all of them gave up.
OpenAI’s model all but matches doctors in assessing eye problems
Ophthalmology has been a big focus of efforts to put AI to clinical use and fix obstacles to take-up, such as the tendency of models to ‘hallucinate’ by creating fictitious data.
How Amazon wasted a decade trying to reinvent the supermarket
The online shopping behemoth simply failed to make the technology cheaper than a conventional store.
Work & Careers
‘What Paula wants, Paula gets’: Lindsay Fox’s $152m birthday surprise
A high-profile birthday singalong broke out on billionaire Lindsay Fox’s birthday at the official opening of new $152 million Paula Fox Melanoma and Cancer Centre in Melbourne on Friday.
Employees who refused WFH jobs get cut in redundancy payout
The Fair Work Commission has for the first time reduced payouts for retrenched Bartercard employees because they did not accept job offers requiring them to work entirely from home.
Life & Luxury
Priciest global cruise arrives in Sydney
Cruising is back in vogue, particularly on super-luxury options such as the Scenic Eclipse II, which boasts two helicopters and a submarine.
This former tennis champ is chasing unicorns and dancing pantless
Dylan Alcott has a dizzying list of achievements from 15 tennis Grand Slams to being Australian of the Year. Now, he’s chasing start-ups and performing with Jason Donovan.
Why this exec wants to ride with Elon Musk in WA
Cash Converters boss Sam Budiselik loves cycling, but only in his home state. He’s also a fan of the world’s third-richest man.
Ozempic ‘oops’ babies spark debate as users fall pregnant
Some women on weight-loss drugs who have struggled with fertility issues are now expecting children, leading to questions about the safety of such medications.
What happens when farmers and chefs partner in R&D
Mark Foletta and Stephen Nairn met over a box of foraged mushrooms in 2011. Thus began their endeavours to surprise and delight your tastebuds.